Stiffening and stretching device



Sept. 2l, 1954 w. B, wHlTE STIFFENING AND STRETCHING DEVICE Filed may21, 1951 Patented` Sept. 211, 1.954

UNITED STATES PATENT STIFFENING AND STRETCHING DEVICE William B. White,Bismarck, N. Dak. Application May 21, 1951, Serial No. 227,349

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a device for stiffening or stretching fabricsas for example a shirt collar and has for its primary object to providea device of extremely simple construction capable of being readilyapplied to spaced portions of a piece of fabric such as a shirt collarand which will urge the fabric portions engaged by the device away fromone another to retain said portions in a stretched condition and whichbeing substantially rigid will prevent folding or wrinkling of thecollar or fabric between the portions thereof engaged by the device tothereby stiften the fabric or collar.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide astretching and stiftening device of extremely simple constructioncomposed of a minimum of parts enabling the device to be manufactured inrestricted sizes and to have a very restricted cross sectional size sothat the device may be readily concealed beneath a collar wing or behinda piece of fabric without producing noticeable bulge therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a stiifening andstretching device involving a novel combination of parts assembled in anovel manner to facilitate the operation of the device and to eliminateany tendency of the parts to bind when extended or retracted.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of relativelysturdy construction the parts of which are so assembled that anytendency of the parts to buckle is substantially eliminated.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the upper portion ofa shirt having a soft collar and showing a pair of the stiffening andstretching devices in dotted lines applied to the innerside of thecollar wings, to illustrate a preferred application of the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of 'one of the stiffening and stretchingdevices;

Figure 3 is an edge elevational view thereof looking from right to leftof Figure 2, and

'Figure 4 is a perspective view of the same.

Referring more specifically to` the drawing, the stretching andstiiening device in its entirety is designated generally 5 and iscomposed of two corresponding slidably connected sections 6 and I and acontractile coiled spring 8.

Each of the sections B and 1 is formed from a single strand ofrelatively stiff wire and each section 6 and 'I includes an elongatedstraight shank portion 9 having an eye I0 formed at one end of the shank9 and which forms one terminal of the strand from which the section E or1 is formed. The eye I Il of each section is disposed at substantially aright angle to the axis of its shank 9. Each shank 9, adjacent its eyeID is looped to provide a second eye I I which eyes II are disposedsubstantially longitudinally ofA the shanks 9.

An elongated loop, designated generally I2, is formed in each shank 9near its opposite end and longitudinally thereof. Each loop I2 includeslaterally spaced substantially parallel legs I3 and I4. The leg I3 has acurved inner end I5 merging with the straight portion of its shank 9,and the outer ends of the legs I3 and I4 are connected .by an outertransverse loop portion I6 which is curved upwardly relatively to theplane of the legs I3 and I4, as best seen in Figures 3 and 4. The otherterminal of each shank 9 is formed by a substantially straight strandportion II having an inner end connected to theinner end of the leg I4by a curved strand portion I8 which is curved inwardly toward the leg I3and inclined upwardly away from said leg I4 and relatively to the planeof the legs I3 and I4. The strand end I'l is inclined downwardly andoutwardly from its inner end and extends outwardly between the legs I3and I4 and beneath the outer upwardly curved loop portion I6. As bestseen in Figure 3, the strand end I'I is spaced from the upper part ofthe loop porion I6 and extends a short distance therebeyond andterminates in a tapered piercing point I9.

The shanks 9 of the sections 6 and 1 are disposed in overlappingrelationship and in engagement with one another and the eye I8 of eachshank 9 slidably engages the other shank 9 for maintaining the shanks insubstantially parallel relationship and for slidably connecting theshanks for movement longitudinally of the device 5 in either direction.The contractile spring 8 is coiled around the overlapping portions ofthe shanks 9 and the ends of the spring 8 are secured to the eyes II, asseen at 20, so that the spring 8 tends to pull the eyes II toward oneanother and to thus displace the shank loops I2 away from one another ortoward extended positions.

The spring 8 is of relatively small diameter being only suiiicientlylarge to engage around the shank portions 9 without assuming africtional OFFICE engagement therewith and said spring may be coiledaround said shank portions 9 after the eyes I of each shank has beenformed around the other shank or the Shanks may be inserted through thespring 8 and the eyes I0 and II thereafter formed therein.

It will be noted that the eyes II are disposed substantiallyperpendicular to the plane of the loops l'2 and are preferably inclinedslightly so that each eye II overlies a portion of 4'the shank 9 of theother section. Further, the spring 3 is coiled in such a direction thatthe convolutions thereof tend to urge the eyes II toward alignedpositions so that each eye II bears against the shank of the othersection and in this manner the loops I2 are maintained in substantiallythe same plane, as illustrated in Figure 3.

The loop portions I6 each perform a dual function in that said loopportions form ngernail rests one of which is adapted to be engaged bythe nail of the index finger and the other by the nail of the thumb fordisplacing the loops I2 toward one another to retract the stretching andstiffening device and to thereby stretch and tension the spring 5. Withthe device 5 thus retracted or shortened and While it is held aspreviously described, the device 9 is positioned against a piece offabric to be stretched or stiffened as for example the inner side of acollar wing, as illustrated in Figure 1, with the points I9 extendingdownwardly and toward the fabric or collar wing ZI. By then releasingthe pressure on the loop portions I5, the spring 8 will draw the eyes IItoward one another and in so doing will displace the loops I2 and pointsI9 away from one another so that the points I9 will pierce the fabric tothereby stretch and stiften the fabric or collar wing portions disposedbetween said points. The loop portions it perform a secondary functionin that said portions constitute stops which engage the fabric to limitthe extent of penetration of the spike portions I1. Obviously, theamount of tension applied to the fabric may be varied by varying theextent that the spike points I9 are displaced toward one another beforebeing applied to the fabric.

It Will be noted that the contractile spring s has no tendency to-buckle when under tension but instead tends to maintain the sections eand 1 in substantially straight aligned relationship and it willlikewise be apparent that the guide eyes Ill could be omitted withoutmaterially affecting the functioning of the device e.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and mayobviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim asmy invention:

1. A fabric stretching and stifiening device comprising a pair ofcorresponding slidably connected sections and a contractile coiledspring, saidl sections each being formed of a strand of relatively stiffwire and each including an elongated shank portion, said shank portionsextending slidably through the contractile coiled spring and havingspring engaging eyes adjacent corresponding ends thereof formed in theoverlapping portions of said Shanks and between which said spring isdisposed, the ends of said spring being anchored to said spring engagingeyes for urging the eyes toward one another, the strands forming saidsections having spike portions at their opposite, remote ends adapted topierce spaced portions of a piece of fabric to provide a substantiallyrigid uninterrupted extensible member extending between the spikeportions and spring urged to an extended position for stretching andstiffening the fabric between the spike portions, and the strand of eachsection having a loop adjacent the spike portion thereof and 'from whichthe rspike point projects, each of said loops including substantiallyparallel coplanar legs disposed longitudinally of the devicebetweenrwhich the spike of said section is disposed, said loop includingan upwardly curved transversely extending outer portion disposed over aportion of the spike forming a fabric engaging stop and a fingernailrest and beyond which the pointed end of the spike projects, said springengaging eyes being disposed at an angle to the .plane of the legs .ofthe loops and each being retained by the spring in engagement with theshank of the other section for maintaining said loops incoplanarrrelationship.

2. A fabric stretching and stiffening device comprising a pair ofcorresponding slidably connected sections and a contractile coiledspring, said sections each being `formeel of a strand of relativelystiff wire and each including an elongated shank portion, said shankportions extending slidably through the contractile coiled spring andhaving spring engaging eyes adjacent corresponding ends thereof formedin the overlapping portions of said shanks and between which said spring-isdisposed, the ends ofV said spring being anchoredA to said springengaging eyes for urging the eyes toward one another, the strandsforming said sections having spike portions at their opposite, remoteends adapted to pierce spaced portions of a piece of vfabric to providea substantially rigid uninterrupted extensible member extending betweenthe spike portions and spring urged to anV extended position forstretching and stiffening the fabric between the spike portions, and thestrand of :each section having a loop adjacent the spike por-tionthereof and from which the spike poi-nt projects, the terminals of saidstrands loca-ted adjacent the spring engaging eyes and remote from thespikes each being provided with a guide eye, said guide eyes .beingdisposed at substantially right angles to the axes of said Shanks andthe guide eye of each section slidably engaging the shank of the othersection, said guide eyes being disposed beyond the ends of thecontractile spring and beyond said spring engaging eyes.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Numberv Name Date 1,352,268 Hyde Sept. 7, 1920 1,488,012 Little Mar. 25, 19242,304,464 Manaster Dec. 8, 1942 2,307,295 Pettit Jan. 5, 1943vk2,514,237 Grabowska July 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date958,943 France` Sept. 21, 1949 574,409 Great Britain Jan. 3, 1946

